Florida Doctor’s Judge Warns Jack Smith of Possible ‘Sanctions’

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon warned special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday about complying with her requirements in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in Florida, stating that failure to do so could result in sanctions.

The issue at hand is the request made by Smith’s team on Friday night, ahead of a holiday weekend, that Cannon impose a gag order on Donald Trump to prevent him from making public comments about the case.

Cannon denied Smith’s request on Tuesday.

“The Court finds the Special Counsel’s pro forma ‘conferral’ to be lacking in substance and professional courtesy,” Cannon wrote. “It should be understood that meaningful conferral is not merely a routine exercise.”

Cannon also rejected the request from Trump’s legal team on Monday to impose sanctions on Smith for his filing, which they claimed was “unconstitutional censorship” and “bad-faith behavior.” They criticized the Special Counsel’s Office in Monday’s filing.

Cannon criticized Smith for filing on a “non-emergency” basis despite claiming urgency on Friday. She instructed Smith to consult with Trump’s legal team before any future requests and chastised him for not presenting their response neutrally.

“Failure to comply with these requirements may lead to sanctions,” Cannon stated in the brief order on Tuesday morning, as reported by Politico. Cannon denied the request without prejudice, allowing prosecutors to refile it.

Smith argued that urgency was necessary to prevent Trump from making “intentionally false and inflammatory statements,” similar to his recent claims about the Justice Department authorizing violence and federal agents posing a threat during an FBI search of his home in August 2022. Trump was not present during the search.

Cannon referred to Smith’s request as “lacking in substance and professional courtesy.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 counts in the classified documents case, with 31 accusing him of willful retention of national defense information.

Cannon heard defense arguments on a motion to dismiss the case last week and has not yet set a trial date, having postponed the original May 20 start date.